What the heck. I'll riff off of your list.

1. I try to grab a melody/tune I have on my mind or I sit an freestyle on my guitar until something useful comes up.

These days I "write" both with guitar and with BIAB. I normally don't pick up the guitar until I have the beginnings (at the minimum) of a song...a line or two and melody. Then I work out the chords and complete the song...sometimes in one sitting, sometimes over several. I will sit down with BIAB and work up an arrangement with those chords, rhythmic changes (rests, shots, holds, pushes, etc.)...what I call "bandifying" a song.

A large part of this is "listening to the BAND". I can't and don't have every musical idea.

The process when starting with BIAB is different. I usually don't have a lyric--at least not a complete one. I work out an interesting "backing" and set it aside to see if some lyrical idea 1. is necessary, or 2. comes to me. I've got a pretty good idea about the melody somewhere during this process or by it's end. Maybe even more importantly, I have a good sense of the "phrasing", the vocal rhythm, by then as well. This is often enough to "help" write a lyric.

If this fails to excite me, then I'll shelve it permanently.

2. I put the parts together in BIAB and works with the parts and the score until I have a complete song.

Similar with me.

3. I give the SGU file a name - which 8 out of 10 times ends up defying the lyrics

I don't worry too much about a file name. I'll name it something that helps me remember what it is. Might be part of the lyric, might be the "style" name, might be something else like an auto-name from BIAB. What I usually DO, is make copies (as many as I need) to produce tracks I think I can use when it comes to "production" in DAW. These may change certain elements of the arrangement in ways that a single .sgu. can't accommodate.

4. Then it's time to create some decent lyrics ( a process that goes from painful to playfully easy)

I don't write lyrics just so a song will have them. If I can't write a lyric that excites me, then it just isn't going to get written. End of story.

5. I then spend a couple of hours playing and singing, while adjusting chords, notes and/or lyrics - but I don't record anything at all - just left with the SGU file and lyrics.

I will have done this either on acoustic or in working up arrangement in BIAB. Call it productive practice. I usually don't record, but not so much as a test. The final "backing" for the song takes place ultimately in DAW. I keep my options open until then. Vocals come last, but I already know how they are going to be delivered.

6. I leave the song for at least a week
7. After a week or more I open the song and if I remember the song, it has passed the first test. If I forgot it is pretty much end of the line for that song.

I'm not that methodical, but it really doesn't take me a week to know if it's something I want to completely finish.

8. I try out the song in alternative arrangements and styles for proof test - it must work with at least 5 different Styles to pass this stage

That's part of the "arrangement" and "pre-production" process I described earlier, but I have no hard-and-fast rule or any particular genre-bias.

9. I leave it for at least a month or so (while writing new songs)

10. Once the "due dilligence" is over, I pick it up again - and then I verify whether I still feel enthusiastic to play and sing it....even more important if I still remember the song.


Nope. If I haven't gotten excited by it by the time I'm ready for production/recording/mixing then it's not going to happen. I MIGHT give a bit of extra time to give some more thought to tightening a lyric, but mostly because I despise recording vocals and absolutely don't want to have to do it again. Strike while the iron is hot and enthusiasm is there.

I've written enough to know when a line or two might be a little weak. But I consider everything I sing on to be a "demo" as far as the "public" is concerned, and really mainly meant to be "enjoyed" by me. Others are, of course, welcome to join me in enjoyment, but I am my primary audience as a "recording artist".


The songs that reach beyond these 10 steps are being recorded, mixed and mastered, and are listed in the queue to be selected for publishing on single, maxi or album.

Last check - do I still like it and do I still feel that I want to share the work public?

Anything I share has passed all of the above, because then I know I at least like the song myself.

I guarantee you if I don't like it in the end (or something major about it) nobody else will ever hear it. At least not outside the privacy of my own home.

I will leave subjective sentiments like "is it good" to others. I'm most happy if I can get Bud and Janice to say it has soul. If I think so too, it's a keeper. I'm not too displeased with my batting average over the years, all things considered. Sometimes it's easier than other times, but that's not the measure of happy.

I THINK one reason is that I simply don't finish what doesn't make me overall happy throughout the whole dang doing of the thang.

BIAB 2021 Audiophile. Windows 10 64bit. Songwriter, lyricist, composer(?) loving all styles. Some pre-BIAB music from Farfetched Tangmo Band's first CD. https://alonetone.com/tangmo/playlists/close-to-the-ground